20 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN November 2026 At the Gate Blair Caraway, Caraway Red Angus Ranch | Lexington Tell us about your operation: We are a multigenerational registered Red Angus and commercial cattle operation. What is currently happening on your operation? I would say part of what we’re going through is trying to figure out the plan for the future. Do we want to continue to grow? Do we want to stay where we are? The last few years we have added more heifers to grow our operation. While we’ve had this need for building the herd, it’s a good time to get in. So, we decided to take advantage of that. The operation is always a challenge for us because we have, besides my husband, one other full-time employee, but then everything else is seasonal. So, finding good help is very challenging. Now that our kids are older and they’re all in school, we can’t take them out of school to help all of the time. What are you thinking about as you prepare for winter? We’ve had very mild winters. I grew up in Nebraska, so one year you have snow, one year you don’t. My husband grew up in Minnesota; every year was snow, and so for him, these are very mild. That’s allowed us to get a lot of projects done; it’s allowed for easier calving without fighting the elements. But a lot of the updated forecasts are talking about potentially having more snow this year. So, kind of mentally preparing for mud and potentially more illness. Thinking about if we are going to have to start feeding cows sooner, and if so, do we have enough feed put up? And we’re kind of just trying to make sure we are able to get our hands on hay, cornstalks, making sure our silage is put up and our distillers is locked in. TRESSA LAWRENCE, CONTRIBUTING WRITER PEOPLE Talking Cattle, Crops & Issues Meet producers from across Nebraska as they share about what is currently happening on their operations, issues they are keeping an eye on and more. Ken Herz | Lawrence Tell us about your operation: I am currently phasing out of running the operation and my two sons are taking over. We each have our own thing we focus on, but we all work together. We raise crops that are mainly dryland with some irrigated and run livestock. What is currently happening on your operation? At this particular time, we are weaning calves. We have about half our calves weaned. We’re trying to put up the winter feed, so our silage chopping has been completed. We have most of our hay laid in. We’re going to be doing our crop harvesting before too long. Once that’s done, we’ll turn our attention back to the cattle – get the mama cows out on cornstalks and try to winter them over. We retain our heifers for our own herd. Usually what we do is sell the calves in December and then, as we move those calves out, we have more facilities for calving cows when we bring them in in February. What are you thinking about as you prepare for winter? You always worry about the weather, and you always worry about having enough winter feed for the cattle. We’re in good shape that way. We’ve got the winter feed supply pretty much wrapped up, and so then it becomes about taking care of the cows on the cornstalks and making sure they have water. Basically, it’s just taking care of the cows in the wintertime, doing some of the repair work in the shop and getting prepared for next year. Then, doing it all over again. Ken Herz, left, with his sons, Aaron and Zach. Blair Caraway and her husband, Jon, with their kids Gabrielle, Parker and Meredith.
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